


Yesterday Is Just That

by starchitect



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Gift Fic, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Game(s), Reyn is a good bf, Shulk has anxiety, Spoilers, enjoy, other than this takes place before Future Connected, that's it that's the fic idk what to tell you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23964781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starchitect/pseuds/starchitect
Summary: Shulk doesn’t want something like that to happen ever again. It’s imperative to be ready for anything, especially when he can no longer see the future. He relinquished his Monado and his visions in favor of a life full of unpredictability, and he doesn’t regret that, but if somethingdoesgo wrong, he won’t be able to foresee the event in order to prevent it....Shulk isn’t sure he can handle something like that.“I think you worry too much,” comes Reyn’s voice, dragging the blond from his dark thoughts. “But I know no matter what I say you ain’t gonna stop worrying. So,” He plants a kiss on Shulk’s forehead. “I’ll help you out in any way I can. Just say the word.”
Relationships: Reyn/Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	Yesterday Is Just That

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ohmygoshwhatascream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmygoshwhatascream/gifts).



> Happy happy birthday to my very special friend Scream!! She is beautiful and a fantastic writer and y'all should read her Shulkreyn fics they are so _good_ 😩👌
> 
> Love you so much girl 💖💗💕💖💗💕

“You’re up late.”

Shulk startles as he drops the tool in his hand and turns to face the new arrival in the lab. Reyn is standing there, grinning affectionately, and in his hand is a large drink that’s no doubt packed with sugar if the whipped cream on top is any indication. Shulk smiles and stands up.

“Reyn,” he greets happily, and Reyn responds with a kiss before placing the drink in Shulk’s hands.

“Here.”

Shulk eyes it with confusion. “For me? You know I can’t drink all this.”

His boyfriend chuckles. “Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re gonna share it. Come on, it’s about time you took a break anyway.”

“But—”

“No buts. I know you, and I can tell you haven’t left the lab in a while. Besides, when was the last time we got to be alone together?”

Hearing that makes Shulk realize that it’s already dark outside. Time must have gotten away from him. Again.

Reyn has a point, though. It’s only been half a year since the defeat of Zanza, and while the restoration is well underway, there’s still a lot left to do. With Shulk constantly working in the lab and Reyn helping out with construction, they haven’t had much time to be alone. He should take this opportunity while it lasts.

“You’re right,” he concedes, sampling the sugary drink in his hands. “Let’s go.”

When they step outside, it’s warmer than Shulk thought it would be. He almost considers shedding his jacket, but he doesn’t want to disturb their pace, so he decides against it.

“How’s Fiora doing?” he asks once they leave the military district. He waves back to a few defense force soldiers as they pass by.

Reyn takes a sip of their shared smoothie. “She’s alright. Linada and Sharla are taking good care of her. She’s still learning how to walk again, but I reckon she’ll be back to her old self in no time.”

The process of restoring Fiora’s body was a long and exhausting one. Even before their journey was over, Shulk had sacrificed hours upon hours of sleep just to research High Entia and Machina technology, hoping to find something that would prove useful. It wasn’t until they were back in Colony 9 for a while that Shulk discovered the regeneration chamber—an ancient piece of High Entia technology with the power to restore the flesh and blood that a Mechon body lacked.

He leans against his boyfriend with a relieved sigh. “That’s good to hear. I was worried that...something would go wrong. I mean, that technology, advanced as it was, had to have been centuries old…”

When Fiora refused to enter the chamber until Zanza was defeated, Shulk couldn’t help but worry. He knew in the back of his mind that Fiora only had a limited amount of time left without the power of Meyneth’s Monado. If they were going to save her, it would have to be a race against time to take down Zanza once and for all before it was too late.

And when the world was finally free from Zanza’s wrath and Fiora could enter the chamber to restore her body, Shulk still worried. He knew that Fiora would be fine, but time and again his anxiety brought him back to the Mag Mell ruins. After all, there was only so much that anybody knew about this technology—something could go wrong at any time. It took almost three months before Shulk finally accepted that the machine would do its job well and that Fiora would emerge without a single flaw.

“Yeah, I know. I was worried too, y’know,” Reyn says, squeezing Shulk’s shoulder reassuringly. “But Fiora’s fine now. There’s no need to get all worked up.”

“Right…”

The next few minutes are wordless. As they walk, the only sounds to fill the silence are the tapping of their shoes against the concrete and the chirping of skeeters outside the colony, but it’s far from an uncomfortable silence. In fact, it’s nice when the entire colony is calm and quiet. It allows Shulk to be able to relax and think without any distractions.

Eventually, Reyn leads them to a quiet bench in the Residential District, where Shulk is more than happy to lean his head on Reyn’s shoulder once they take a seat. The redhead wraps his arm around his shoulder.

“So, you wanna tell me what your new project is? Been keeping me in suspense for a while now.”

Shulk hums, remembering what he was working on before Reyn snatched him up from the lab, and he considers how much he should reveal. The project itself has complicated blueprints, so the construction process has been slow and deliberate. Shulk doesn’t want to get his hopes up about it yet, but Miqol helped him write the blueprints, so there’s reason to believe that it’ll be successful.

He sighs and sips from their drink. “Well, I’m not quite sure if it will work just yet. It’s still in its early stages…”

“Come on, just _tell me,”_ Reyn insists, leaning into Shulk dramatically. “It’s not some kind of secret, is it? I know Sharla says otherwise, but I know how to keep my mouth shut.”

Shulk laughs. That sounds like something Sharla would say.

“Alright, alright,” he says, shoulders still shaking. “I’ll tell you.”

And as he takes another sip, Shulk can hear Reyn mutter something like _“Bloody hell, it’s about time,”_ under his breath.

“I’m building a new Monado replica,” he says once his breathing evens out. “I know there’s no real danger to worry about, but… I can’t help but feel like I should be prepared, just in case.”

“You think something bad might happen?”

“Well… I don’t know. I haven’t had any visions since we defeated Zanza. But that’s exactly why I _should_ be prepared. Something could go wrong at any time.”

Shulk is far too familiar with the feeling of helplessness than he would ever like to be. He remembers the first few visions he had— Metal Face plunging his claws right through Fiora, that giant arachno crushing Reyn like a tiny insect… He was so weak back then, and barely knew anything about how the Monado worked, despite having studied it for so long. He remembers those feelings of terror and uselessness weighing him down, and the horrible headaches that always followed those chilling visions.

Shulk doesn’t want something like that to happen ever again. It’s imperative to be ready for anything, especially when he can no longer see the future. He relinquished his Monado and his visions in favor of a life full of unpredictability, and he doesn’t regret that, but if something _does_ go wrong, he won’t be able to foresee the event in order to prevent it.

...Shulk isn’t sure he can handle something like that.

“I think you worry too much,” comes Reyn’s voice, dragging the blond from his dark thoughts. “But I know no matter what I say you ain’t gonna stop worrying. So,” He plants a kiss on Shulk’s forehead. “I’ll help you out in any way I can. Just say the word.”

“Reyn…”

Shulk shifts his position so that he’s sitting upright and facing his boyfriend, pretending not to hear Reyn’s soft whine as a space forms between them. “You can’t just drop everything to help me on a personal project,” he protests, a frown twisting his lips. “The reconstruction—”

“—is gonna take a while, I know. But we’ve got all the time in the world now,” Reyn says, voice softening. “And it’s gonna be a long while before anything else happens. _If_ anything else happens.”

“But—”

“Shulk, listen,” the redhead begins. “Everything’s fine. Nothing’s gonna go wrong, I promise.”

He smiles and kisses Shulk delicately.

“And besides, this was supposed to be a relaxing break,” he chides. “But all you’ve done is worry about the colony when you need to be worrying about yourself.”

Shulk reddens and ducks his head. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Reyn whispers, and leans in for another kiss. This time, Shulk kisses back, leaning into Reyn once again and resting a hand on his knee. Reyn hums happily, reveling in Shulk’s touch. It’s been way too long since they were able to do this without interruptions.

It’s now that Shulk realizes that maybe Reyn has a point—it’s much easier to focus on what’s right in front of him rather than worry uselessly over something he can’t control. Like Fiora said, life is made rich with endless possibilities. That’s what makes it exciting. Maybe Shulk should be celebrating uncertainty instead of cursing it.

Not to say that he _shouldn’t_ worry, but…

Reyn uses his free hand to card calloused fingers through Shulk’s hair.

...Isn’t this exactly what he wished for?

**Author's Note:**

> Knowing that some stuff goes down in Future Connected but not knowing _what_ is so suspenseful lemme tell you
> 
> anyway I hope you enjoyed :V
> 
> EDIT: I've now seen all of Future Connected, and can I just say, WOW


End file.
